There are quite a number of things with my shooting which I think will need a bit of adapting to fully comply with the international rules. One thing which struck me right from the beginning is how the assistant communicates information about where shots go.
Here in the UK, at national level we allow the shooter and assistant to communicate by speaking to each other. However the IBSA rules for shooting will not allow this, information such as shot information needs to be communicated in a non-spoken form. The IBSA rules suggests a way through tapping the shooter at different points on the arm to indicate score and tapping the shooters back to indicate shot position. I really feel this method is inadequate as it only provides the shooter with individual shot information, but to be able to perform sight adjustments you need to understand what the group of shots is like.
I am currently devising a system with my coach which we feel will provide all information needed so I will be able to adjust my own rifle sights. It is not quite completed yet but we think we have the basic idea worked out.
The system I intend to use is basically having a tactile diagram of the target mounted on a cork board and pins will be stuck in the diagram to indicate shot positions. It seems like we will use two boards and have a maximum of five pins to each board. By doing this I should always have a record for at least the last five shots and by feeling the diagram I should be able to identify what the group of shots is like.
As I said, I think the system still needs a bit of work, we need to find the best sizing for the diagram and the thickness of the scoring rings. Hopefully we will have this system worked out soon and I will try and write this system up more fully.
While I understand at national level we want to not put people off doing the sport, I would like to see the top level visually impaired shooters being a bit more international ready, in the hope that future years we may be able to get a team together for international competitions. So if this idea proves successful for me, may be others will want to try and adopt a similar system.
